Karen Stockton: Not everyone can adjust to digital hearing aids after a lifetime of analogue

Every time Andy Palmer (Deputy Editor) asked me to tell the story about my experiences with digital hearing aids I have always turned him down – it was always too difficult to talk about.

About 15 years ago I finally got my letter to start the transition process to move from analogue to digital hearing aids, we were all excited and there had been a lot of positive press. I guess for a lot of people it was a wonderful breakthrough but for me it turned out to be a very long nightmare.

Karen Stockton

15 years later, I feel like I have been left on a roller coaster ride that I can’t get off. It hasn’t been a very pleasant experience at all.

I have been left feeling that I haven’t succeeded to adjust because of some unknown psychological reason which has created a barrier in the transition process. That label does not leave you with a nice feeling. I just cannot live with the sound.

I had lived with analogue hearing aids for most of my life, whilst I did have the usual problems that come with being deaf, my hearing aids were just another set of ‘ears’. I never even thought about them when I wore them; they were just another part of me.

Today, that feeling is but a memory. I am faced with a very uncertain future and so far there is no answer in sight – all is not lost though.

Being of a woman of faith, I see digital hearing aids as my Goliath; another giant in life to face and overcome with God’s help. So I will plod on in the hope that one day I will somehow get there.

So, if you were to ask me ‘are you wearing a pair of digitals now?’ the answer is a big yes.

A wonderful lady at my local hospital, who persevered and gave a lot of time up for me, finally found ones that worked for me. They aren’t perfect, I did have to spend time adjusting and they didn’t give me what I was used to with analogues but the important thing was that I walked out of that room and didn’t even have to come back for any tweaking.

I managed with them, knowing that they were, for me, the best of a bad bunch – as the saying goes!

I was given Phonak Areo 211, apparently, a very simple and basic digital hearing aid. This was some years ago, and sadly, they are not made now and they cannot be repaired.

One has already broken down and thankfully I managed to get hold of a couple of spares to keep me going. Currently, one is beige and the other is blue but hey, who cares as long as I can hear with them? That was all that mattered.

Still, I knew I was on borrowed time with these aids so back I went to try again, but this time, I discovered that the digital hearing aid technology had moved at such a pace that the new ones are all very different, and I was back to square one.

In all the years I have been trying different hearing aids, there has been one thing that has stood out amongst all the problems I had and it was this:

I have been told that it takes a good while for the brain to get used to the digital sounds, and it requires perseverance. I understand this. I also understand that many people give up too easily when they first try them but I sometimes feel like I have to shout from the roof tops that I do try. I have persevered but there is a real physical reaction I get when I hear the sounds of a digital hearing aid and I have no control over it.

I have tried wearing one at a time; I have tried the gradual process; I have tried wearing them at low volume but every time the same thing happens. The longer I wear them the more my brain starts to hurt.

It feels like all the nerve endings in my head are firing off electrical pulses. My head then feels like a big tight band is around it and I become very lethargic and very tired, like I am on some kind of a sleeping drug, until I get to the point I cannot function.

The final straw was last year when I did decide to push on further than before and the result was disastrous.

I ended up in the doctor’s consulting room floor, flooding the room with tears and desperately asking for help just to keep those hearing aids in.

I was so determined not to take them out – I wanted to succeed. I was given anxiety tablets and went home after taking my first one. Soon after, I went into a complete meltdown and started suffering terrible paralysing nervous shivers up and down my body.

I didn’t take any more of the tablets but enough was enough! I took the hearing aids out and put my old digitals back on. For several days I couldn’t get out of bed before dinner and wasn’t able to sleep. I have to thank my God that He has brought me through this awful experience and wonderfully I was able to get back to work two weeks later.

How can I wear digital hearing aids if this is what happens? How can I continue going about my normal life dealing with people, talking on the phone and dealing with a teenage daughter.

Maybe this might seem silly but I am now thinking is these are the sort of symptoms people get with noise torture? Or over exposure to sounds? Is it simply over simulating my auditory nerves with noise it has never experienced before which brings on this anxiety? I just don’t know.

I have been waiting now for more than six-months for my hospital to come back to me with a suggestion of what to do next. I live in hope that a solution can be found before these old hearing aids finally give up and the rollercoaster begins again.

Karen Stockton is from Lincolnshire and works for Action on Hearing Loss. She also helps to run the Signpost group for Christian deaf people.

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I too had trouble switching from early digital hearing aids. Could just not get on with them. In more recent years they are indistinguishable from analogue.

Your problem is likely to be either the hearing aids are set up too loud or there is an issue with reacting to specific sounds. I had this problem in my left ear, some sounds gave me a pounding headache and made me jump – the audiologist turned down that specific frequency in the hearing aid. Don’t wait for the hospital to contact you as it won’t happen. I suggest you try a different hospital/audiology dept.

Same frustrating thoughts and experiences here….and I am still struggling with it…I don’t think it was the best invention..now they talk abt CI as a solution… no thanks I think you can make a better hearing aid if you would please?!! The louder the pitch the more dizzer I get, tinnitus comes up full blast…never had that with analogue. I do feel a lot more depressed now.

Gosh WoW..not the positive ‘WoW’ but the incredulously gobsmacking ‘WoW’ that trained audiologist staff seemed to have inadequate understanding of the physiological/psychological aspects of unfamiliar hearing equipment within the wearer’s brain??!!!
I am sure that certain private hearing aid providers would have more consideration towards their clients if similar problems arise.
Thanks Andy for pushing Karen to disclose her experiences, they are very significant to us ‘past long-time users of analogue’.

Lots of Deaf/HI adults who were used to analogue HAs have complained about digital HAs. I have moderate to severe hearing loss in my left ear and severe to profound hearing loss in my right ear. I wore analogue hearing aids on both ears since 6m until 8Y, then just on my left ear since 8Y and I am abt 40Y now. I trialled digital HAs 15 yrs ago for a day and found sounds too soft even after a few tweaks, so I rejected them for a new analogue HA. Three yrs ago, I trailed digital HAs again. Initially, they were set too loud and this was adjusted. After trialling them for 2 weeks, low frequency sounds (aeroplane flying over house, neighbours’ mower going next door) were audible, but high frequency sounds (speech) were barely audible, whereas with my analogue one I hear speech clearly and the low frequency sounds are audible – depending on my volume setting. I was also getting headaches, dizziness and nausea and it was because the auditory nerves for my right ear were not used to receiving additional sound input, some loud ones too, (Remember I hadn’t worn HA in that ear since 8Y) and I should not have worn the HA in that ear all day from the 1st day onward – I should have just worn it for 1hr on the 1st day then more over time, which the young audiologist failed to advise. She made a few tweaks, said she couldn’t make the high frequency sounds any louder and sent me off hoping I’d adapt. I went back 2 weeks later and met an older, more experienced audiologist. I told her of my (unsatisfactory) hearing experiences with the digital HAs and she looked at my audiogram and the programme for the digital HAs. She discovered that the programme recognised that I had some high frequency hearing (which is uncommon in deaf people) so the programme for the digital HA was giving me more low frequency input and less high frequency input. She had to put in a fake audiogram to dupe the programme to think that I had less high frequency hearing than I do. It worked better so she kept a record of it for future reference, but the “cheat” didn’t give me much confidence in the product. I also did NOT like NOT having a volume control and the on/off switch. To switch the digital HA off, I had to open the battery compartment, but the tiny C17 battery would easily slip out and fall on the floor. I was also irritated by the fact that the small C17 hearing aid battery lasts only a week with the digital HA, whereas my larger 675 battery for analogue HA lasts me 2 wks! So again, I asked for a new analogue HA and this lovely audiologist did find me 2 new ones, so I wear one in my left ear and keep the other as a spare. Lucky me! I saw this audiologist recently for my annual hearing test and she told me about a new product called “Transition” HAs designed for deaf/HI adults who are used to analogue HAs – it is programmed to transition from analogue to digital input over time – I hope to try this the next time I am eligible for a new HA. Interestingly, a recent test found that the analogue HA gave me hearing as much as an elderly person with very mild hearing loss. Look – digital HAs are more expensive than analogue HAs so it’s no wonder that HA companies would stop making analogue HAs and push their digital HAs and make a profit from them. The young deaf/HI and late deafened people seem happy with digital HAs – but, I wonder if they are in the minority because my husband’s late deafened grandma has a digital HA and is battling with her audiologist to get it programmed right for her needs. I have to tell her that she needs to go back with her hearing experiences and get them to be adjusted so that she can hear better and socialise. I have to wonder though how many people have knowledge of this, and how many have the time, money and energy to do many visits for tweaks.

You have rights as a consumer/client/patient, but do your research as knowledge is power. If you’re unhappy, complain and if the response or solution is unsatisfactory, then switch audiologists or lodge a formal complaint. Medical professionals like ENTs, GPs and Audiologists have a Code of Ethics for their profession, so they are duty-bound to be professional, respectful, knowledgeable, informed, informative, and responsive to their clients/patients and their needs. Medical professionals should be informed to give right advice, and have the confidence to consult other professionals for advice or assistance to help sort out issues and improve their services to meet their client/patient’s needs.

HI Angela I was wondering if you might be able to tell me where I can find these Transition hearing aids my hearing aid technician says that he has never heard of them. Just trying to get as much information as possible having an extremely hard and frustrating time switching from analog to digital.

My audiologist’s response regarding transitional hearing aids: Actually all the digital hearing aid brands are doing a better job of allowing flexibility in the fitting algorithms, so that the transition is not so difficult. It is a very individual matter. I just fitted a fellow recently who was so reluctant to leave his old analog Oticon hearing aids but found the Oticon Chili to be ok after a few weeks of persevering. You’ll need to find an experienced audiologist who is patient and knowledgeable!

My personal response and advice to you is to a) find a recommended experienced audiologist from Deaf friends b) ask the audiologist for an extension to the usual 2-week trial period for new digital hearing aids in order to accommodate the numerous visits to fine-tune the hearing aids’ software programme until you are satisfied with your hearing experiences, and c) take a daily report of your hearing experiences in different situations and take those reports to the audiologist at each visit.

@Alicia: For an explanation of linear vs analog and which aids will work, please see our version “First Person Report: Not Everyone Can Adjust to Digital Hearing Aids After A Lifetime Of Analog(ue)” at:http://thehearingblog.com/archives/2689

Karen, you raise a Very Important Point about speech envelope detection in the auditory cortex being defeated with wide dynamic range compression (WDRC), which is implemented in almost all digital hearing aids. Even when Linear is selected in some hearing aids (notably Phonak HA’s) the WDRC is still squashing the speech envelope.

For severely deaf & worse patients, I recommend the ReSound Sparx, as in Aventa 2.95 the firmware can be re-flashed from WDRC to linear, to emulate the linear analog hearing aid sound your auditory cortex needs.

I spent fifteen years trying different digital hearing aids and thinking that I would never get on with them after analogue. In the end I had to resort to programming the hearing aids (Phonak Naida) myself in order to get something closely approaching the analogue sound. This proves that digital aids can be set up for people who have always heard with analogue but you will have a hard time finding an audiologist who will invest the time and take the risk of going off-piste in the hearing aid settings to achieve the sound you need.

At this end of my long journey, I’m converted to digital and find the pros outweigh the cons. The biggest pro is the “speech in noise” programme which means that I can hold conversations in noisy places which were totally impossible with analogue.

Persevere and hopefully you will find digital hearing aids and programming to suit you in the end.

This sounds a lot like a recruitment or hyperacusis problem – I do hope this was ruled out when you suffered so terribly with the side effects. I have only ever worked in the private sector at Specsavers however I know we can set the aids to perform in a linear fashion and this is often what seems to be the answer. I’m so sorry you have experienced such a horrific deal 🙁

@Marybeth: Unfortunately “MachineGhost” does not know what he’s talking about, nor has he listened to one, as the ReSound Sparx (branded Danalogic 6090 for UK’s NHS) is, in fact a very fine aid, that a number of my profoundly deaf patients enjoy. You can read much more here:
First Person Report: Not Everyone Can Adjust to Digital Hearing Aids After A Lifetime Of Analog(ue)http://thehearingblog.com/archives/2689

Note: This gentleman also posted a comment on our article, using a fake e-mail address.

Karen, Thank you for your post. I can totally relate: I am a 45 year old severe/profoundly deaf female who has worn BTE’s (analog) since the age of 3 due to Scarlett Fever. I was mainstreamed in the public schools, communicated with hearing people and thought very little of my hearing loss. I went onto receive a Bachelors Degree and have a successful career. I had many friends and was extremely social. I wore Oticon Personic until I was told that analogs are going to be obsolete in the future. I was anxious to try the new technology in hopes that my hearing would improve. I switched to digital in 2005. In the past nine years I have tried EVERYTHING on the market and have been through 4 different sets of hearing aids. I currently wear Oticon Chilis and have it stripped down to nothing to make it as analog ( linear) as possible. It allows me to live in a world where I can hear … however, I feel like I am living in a foreign country where I do not know the language. I no longer enjoy communicating with others as they will have to repeat themselves. Getting together with more than 1 friend is out of the question … I won’t be able to keep up with the conversation. Thankfully, I am married to a wonderful man who does not mind repeating himself and understands my social withdrawal. I want to live again. I am desperately seeking analog hearing aids for severe/profound deafness or a way to get them back on the market. I have read many blogs that tell me I am not alone. I am looking for people who may be a step ahead of me to help me be a voice and take action to save our future. I do not want to do this just for myself … but for others like me as well. Thank you for any insight you can provide me!

Avoid the Sparx except only as a last resort. It has a mechanical sound quality that is highly unnatural. No wearer has ever praised it. I honestly do not know how it can continue to be sold nowadays as it is so inferior to even the very last generation of analogs.

Thank you Karen for sharing your story I was starting to feel like I was the only one out there that couldn’t change from Analog to digital. I have a server to profound hearing loss in my left and no hearing in my right. Since I lost my hearing when I was 16yrs old I have been using analog. My current unitron ha is now not working properly and every audiologist that I speak with says that I have to change over to digital because there are no more analogs. From what I have been reading is that they are still manufactured just really hard to find. Is that true? The digitals that I have been trying are not working. The speech is to soft, I cannot hear my kids if they are in the next room, it doesn’t work for the phone ( which I need for work). I am use to the telecole switch on the analog they say they are programming the digitals for the phone but it doesn’t work it doesn’t turn off the background noise so that I can hear the person on the phone. All I truly want is a hearing aid that will allow me to adjust the volume and an on/off switch. The last audiologist that I spoke with told me that it will be hard to find a digital that will give the power that I need for my hearing loss so how can digital be so much better. I am getting frustrated with everything and I am starting to feel like I did when I first lost my hearing scarred, helpless and totally alone. Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

I too, after 42 years of analog progress am having a very difficult time moving forward. I have tried digitals twice. Although I am wearing a custom analog with some digital features, I still am not very happy. I am having sleep loss and anxiety that pretty much has me connected to my bathroom every morning. Tears fall daily because what I have known what I have heard will change. My analogs still work and my back up pair as well. The custom pair has a lifetime gaurantee.. Yes. I am smarter than that gaurantee. The audiologist is working the tweaks still and I am frustrated. The sounds are not comfortable yet. I believe that my 6 weeks of digital experience I had has ruined me to the point that I now can’t figure out if I am hearing well. I question everything that I ever learned and did. Mainstreamed in school, 16 yrs of speech classes , and no ASL . I feel limited and a failure now. Pleading my case to the companies is falling on deaf ears. Researching on line has its limits. Who says that these companies know what worked best for me. I no longer feel independent nor as a person who can be happy. It’s so bad that I am pushing my family away from me. Agreed .. Digitals are not for everyone. I am 46 years old and falling apart thanks to too much technology.

I am now trying the Phonak Naida Q50-UP. They have made it completely linear and disabled the noise reduction cause I found that when the noise reduction was on that it also lowered the speech level as well. This one has a telecole feature which works for the work and home phone but I have recently found out that the only way it works for the cell phone is by Bluetooth I cannot pick the cell phone up to my ear and hear the person talking to me. I am finding that noises like paper shuffling, chairs on tile floor air condition fans are all to loud. I hear the higher pitch noises better than lower pitch noises. With my analog I was able to make it so that the higher pitch sounds were lower in volumn and the lower was higher in volumn. If there are still so many people having a hard time switching over from analog to digital why have manufacturers stopped making analogs. Who are they to say that this new technology is better for everyone. Plus now with the digital I have to carry a remote and cords for charging the remote and a cord for the Bluetooth, I hate having to carry all this stuff with me with my analog I put it in turn it on and forget about it. I have two kids I have enough stuff that I have to cart around with me. And now they are saying that for me to be able to hear my kids in another room in the house I will have to have an FM system. Sorry but you cannot trust a 4 year old to take care of something that fragile. I don’t think that it is to much to ask to be able to hear like I always have. I know that pleading with manufacturer as an individual will do nothing but is there anywhere that we can go as a group and be heard.

Karen , I know exactly how you feel . I’ve worn analog for most of my life as well – over 40 years ( I have severe/profound loss ) . I’m using Oticon Chili aids for almost a year now , prior to that Starkey for many years . Have you found an aid similar to analog ? Some of us are still searching …..

Well happy I found all this info.I am 66 wore analogs since 7 yrs.got the new digitals.how totally frustrating, cannot hear my boss radio and am right in front of it.feel more deaf than any other time in my life. Give me back the real sound of analog.digital has shrunk my world.this is from a master’s level psych social worker..so we have to fit the technology

You have described my experiences with having to go digital 8 years ago. As of now, I’ve been a hearing wearer for 37 years. Like you, I grew up on analogue. The switch was a nightmare. People don’t realize that the brain has to relearn to hear all over again. Even before digitalis came out, I had to learn to hear all over again anytime I had to get new aids. I get very depressed when I’m going through the months and months of adjusting to new aids. As I write this, I am only days away from another long, stressful ride, as I have to begin the process again. I am currently wearing my 15 year old aids because, the software of my 8 year old digitals, has conveniently changed (though no one will admit it) and they are unwearable now. I’m so upset about this. I want to go back to aids that don’t need to be hooked up to a computer to work right. It’s just so frustrating and paralyzing. And I have to do it all over again in 3 days.

I have just digital hearing aids in for about a week an half ago, before i had depression and medication which was getting better, but since last week after getting the hearing aids i felt more and more depressed each day again, it feels like I’ve been set back two years with my depression.

Very useful information in above posts. Have to say, that I empathise and sympathise with Karen’s situation, and with the others too. Believe I will shortly enter similar predicament to some of above.
I suffer from severe deafness and have used analogue aids for more than forty years, reasonably satisfactorily. For many years have resisted digital aids, foisted by various providers. Did test some pretty casually over the years, but could easily see that technically they did not offer much hearing improvement to my condition. Aside from that, did not relish all the interventions that seemed necessary by provider . . . recalibrations etc . . . great to be able to adjust the little analogue oneself ad nauseam, and get things to optimum at leisure !

Currently have a Phonak Super Front PP-C-L-4, which seemed 4 years ago, as the last one available in the world ! . . . .searched for another one all over 9 monrths later, to no avail whatsoever. Don’t think current one will last much longer really, so the nervous search is about to begin for a replacement ( digital no doubt).

A thing that intrigues though, is with all the global desire from people to continue with analogue, why no manufacturer seems interested in capturing the apparent substantial market ? Why has some large company engineer not decided to go on his own, to service this analogue market ?
Would be curious for ant insights into this. Would appreciate it if somebody could satisfy this curiousity . . . . and avivise means of locating an 80db Gain analogue ! ! ! ! !

I agree. There should be a good size market for us analogs.the sounds is so much better..pity the poor digital folks who Don’t know what they are missing .seems that digital leaves me feeling more handicapped than I ever felt.

Perhaps it’s time that one of us write up a free online petition (www.change.org) to lobby the hearing aid manufacturers (or an association that they belong to) to start manufacturing analogue hearing aids again for D/deaf adults around the world, who are unable to adapt to the digital hearing aids, and would prefer to continue using analogue hearing aids. A united voice is more powerful than individual complaints. The more that sign this petition, the greater the chance our petition for the return of good quality analogue hearing aids to the hearing aid market.

Hello, I totally agree with the petition idea to save our Analogue hearing aids. I’ve been wearing Analogues since I was 7 in both ears and apart from badly fitted ear moulds sometimes I’ve loved my Analogues and although I have severe deafness in my left ear and moderate hearing loss in my right people never even knew I was deafon Analogues the . I’ve rejected digital aids from the NHS and the NHS refused to look after my Analogues for me about 8 years ago. Nevertheless I continued wearing them till 4weeks ago when my nightmare happened my left Analogue stopped working. I’ve felt more alone vulnerable isolated and desperately sad, my Analogues were my comforters my confidence and my contact to the outside world. Without them Im lost. I went to see a private Audiologist who won’t let me buy Analogue although he claims he has some in stock!! He fitted me with 2digitals aids 1in each ear yesterday and the sounds were awful just noise torture, at the end of the day I had earache which I have never had with Analogues in my life and worsened tinnitus. I cried my heart out last night. There is abit of hope, another Audiologist is trying to mend my old Analogues for me but only because I have nothing else. It’s not fair in this day and age that so many people like you and me are literally suffering in silence. And If you do get a petition together to raise awareness and understanding of Analogue hearing aids please let me know!

I’m all for having a petition to bring back Analog hearing aids ! 😀 I can help out any way I can. 🙂 I’ve been wearing the Oticon SUMO DM digital hearing aid for over a month & it still needs tweaking for sharper hearing. This digital hearing aid is way better than than the Siemens & the Phonax ones which were torture ! I couldn’t wear either of them after less than 24 hours ! I’m grateful that I still have my Analog hearing aid in a small wooden box that my son made for me when he was in the Cub Scouts. That small wooden box is now a treasure chest because it holds my Analog hearing aid. I’m 50 years old & I’ve been hearing with the Analog hearing aid all my life. So yeah, I can help reach out to hearing aid manufacturers to bring back the Analog hearing aids. 🙂

Hi Carla, it’s so nice to get a reply so quickly it’s encourageing to know you too would like to make a petition I think if something isn’t at least tried our beloved Analogues will be gone forever for some reason NHS and private Audiologists will not accept or admit that there is a lot of deaf people who love Analogues and simply will never like digitals and who wants to pay alot of money for something they do not like or makes them feel depressed and in pain!!! Now I’m new to this emailing on the Internet business, I’m not very technology minded, it’s taken me this long to get connected with the Internet!! But if you know how to go about setting up a petition maybe on this website Limpingchicken.com then we could maybe see who else will leave their comments then maybe print sheets off or send via the Internet to Hearing Aid Organisations and NHS Audiologists round the areas where we live and also private Audiologists too. Then we can all give a voice about the Analogue hearing aids we feel passionate about. These organisations need to know that it’s not just one or two people who do not like digitals but Lots!! Maybe together we can be stronger. Please feel free to let me know what you think Carla and any ideas you would like to try. Plus anyone else out there with any ideas or information. It’s so comforting to know we are a large group of people United together and this website has given me the strength to challenge my Audiologist at the end of this week which is always daunting. Like you Carla I have my Analogues in their little boxes tho I bet they are not as nice as the box you’re son has made for you!!!. I am trying to get them mended from a kindly Audiologist who lives quite a way from me I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed that he can bring my Analogues back to life again! I’m not going to give up on Analogues for me or other people hopefully together we can do something!! Kind regards to you Carla Xxx from Becky Smith

This has also been my problem, i am 28years old and have worn analog aids since very young. Then a few years ago, they tried to switch me to digital aids, the first generation, which turned out absolutely fine, then a couple of years later i had to go back for some reason, and they said i was a few generations out of date in regards to the aids. so i tried them, and they were TERRIBLE, i was so upset for the 2 weeks i had to wear them, and in the end i went private, and i had tested a few different brands. i finally found one that was better but nothing compared to analog hearing aids and still get upset about it from time to time because i feel like my hearing is worse with these digital aids that i have now. They try to make it all technical and fancy (do i really need the 6 second delay and a dingdongding sound when i switch my hearing aid on?), that i believe we should have an option to have analog aids especially for those who have had grown up with it.

Hi Hannah I totally agree with your comments on the 6 second start up and the ding-dong-ding in Digital hearing aids it’s just annoying!!!! Just a simple on/off switch and a dial to turn the volume up or down is all that’s needed. I’ve just had to trial digitals now after my Analogues eventually stopped working and hate fiddling around trying to adjust it I had to take the silly thing out of my ear to change volume!! And opening up the battery compartment every time to switch it off is just so backward!!! Whoever designed digitals hasn’t a clue!!! They should of asked people who wear hearing aids first before making these I’m my opinion sub standard products! Totally agree with you. Xxx

I am in the same boat as many of you. I wore analog for my entire life, 40 years!! And I’m on day 4 of these digital hearing aids and it’s a nightmare. I’m so sad…. but I know I’m not alone. Thank you all.

I have been struggling for the past 6 month as i transition to digital hearing aids and still struggling!!! i have starkey hearing aid and is in full linear parameters!! Still not happy, noise distortion, unwanted sounds reverberate backs at me upon loud noise, not sure its a feed back issue!! All i can say its a nightmare and would plead manufacturers to please bring back the analog aids back!! My patience is running out as im on my 2nd opinion with a different audiologist!!! help help

Karen, can’t help but be interested in your story. One thing that pops up for me is that much of the discussion tends to be focused on people with greater than moderate loss of hearing. I can tell you that I have moderate loss of hearing and I am going through the same things that most people appear to be talking about in the posts. So, Billy, I know ‘exactly’ what you are talking about. Digital aids appear to be very difficult to programme to arrive at a clear and stable set of sounds that include voice and background sounds. Dan, I would be interested to hear your comments on that. First time I tried digital aids was 2002, without success, and have tried on numerous occasions since and am trying again right now. I managed to buy a spare set of analogues just as they stopped making them and they are hanging on, just. I also managed to buy Widex 2 channel aids about 5 years ago (of course they stopped making those, also). They were classed as high compression aids, and I believe that it was argued that they were not ‘fully digital’ so they’re gone now. This might give some idea as to why ‘all’ of the hearing aid companies ‘stopped’ making analogue aids. However, I believe some companies still sell them in developing countries, because they are regarded as inferior technology and sell them cheaper. If you know something about the complexity that surrounds the programming of a digital aid, it makes it hard to understand how audiologist can possibly get it right; which possibly means every customer needs to adapt for the product. Not really how most products work in today’s market – companies tend to be market or customer focused and not product focused. My understanding is also that ultimately the digital aid is trying to drive the signals back through some type of analogue converter. Which beckons the question of why did they switch to digital if they are having such a hard time converting the sound back to an analogue sound, where you have a a replicated sound of the natural sound that we as analogue users are so used to hearing.

Thank you Karen for the opportunity to post on your very important blog.

@Cho: Unfortunately, you’re conflating “digital” with “compression” and “analog” and “linear.” Yes, we live in an analog world, and at some point the digital signal is converted back to analog to drive the receiver diaphragm.

@Cho and MW: It depends if you have cochlear dead zones where the inner hair cells are missing; and where they are tonotopically located. What happens in a dead zone is that the neural firing loses synch, and the sounds in that region of the audio spectrum become distorted.

In addition, the sound can be perceived as distorted when it is presented too loud: This is called “rollover” and is an issue for power junkies.

Dan, I think your understanding of theory is really good. However, I don’t understand what you mean when you are relating the discussion to the difference between a digital and analogue aid. If the analogue aid is doing such a good job, what is stopping the digital from perform the same task?

I think Paul has hit the nail on the head, actually. Analogue users are getting a clean constant sound. I think constant is the key here. And the better the audiologist and the better the fit; usually done between vents and the electronic channel controls – cannot help noticing that audiologist tend to focus solely on the electronic controls when fitting a digital aid. But what I was hoping that Dan could clarify is why the digital finds it difficult to produce that constant sound.

@Cho: Analog hearing aids were mostly linear; though there were some, notably the K-AMP, which had wide dynamic range compression (WDRC)

Today’s digital hearing aids are almost exclusively all WDRC; however the Sparx/Danalogic 6090 and now the ReSound Enzo can be programmed into linear mode, to mimic the way most analog aids performed; with the bonus of being able to fine-tune them and also digital feedback reduction.for much more gain and power.

You need to clear from your mind how a hearing aid gets from point A to point B, i.e. whether the guts are digital or analog, as it has NO BEARING on getting from point A to point B.

Think Cho has hit the nail on the head . . . from a variety of blogs, there is incontrovertible evidence that digital aids do not deliver satisfactory service to a multitude of previous analogue users. This prediciment of such people seems to be carelessly dismissed by the industry generally, probably for not too savoury reasons !

The industry generally proclaims ‘Digital’ as the godhead, but would beg to differ with such callous spin. Am currently listening to a radio talk show in which,as usual, many of the broadcast inputs are from out-of-studio digital cell phones . . . . some of the sound quality is truely appalling, with voice rasping and distorted sound, in contrast to the good sound standard from the studio.

Whilst no doubt there are large technical merits attached to digitalisation, the technology has many shortcomings and failures, but is often blatently casually used as top-of-the-heap.

Often wonder, would reputable organisations such as Volkswagen or Guinness offer a car model whose engine regularly splutters, or a stout that regularly curdles ?
Has anybody seen or heard a credible explanation from the ‘Industry’ why analogue aids are no longer offered ? Guess the ‘Industry’ realises that a lot of people already know why !

I wore analogue aids for twenty years without a problem until the NHS decided they were out of date, and replaced them with digital aids, I have been wearing the digital aids for about twelve years now but still can’t get on with them, I’ve tried wearing one aid in my better ear,without success, adjusting the aids to different levels, but to no avail…..and the digital aids continue to whistle…….will they, or have they made a hearing aid that doesn’t whistle…..Signed……Frustrated of Gravesend.

Hello Everyone…. My name is Angela from Georgia. I read everyone comments and realized that I am not the only person feel depressing about the new digital hearing aids. I’ve been using analogue hearing aids for 48 years. Today I took the new hearing aid back to audiologist and told them and I can’t bear with it and got my money back. I am very disappointed that now day every thing is digital and I even told my doctor that they are treating us like we are a “robot” and it is so wrong for those people are being selfish to do what THEY want, not us. Have anyone have any luck to find any company that make analogue hearing aids?

If you are in UK, ask your audie for the Danalogic 6090 aids; and if you are here in the US, ask for the ReSound Sparx (same aid); or the new ReSound Enzo² aid, which can be programmed into linear to simulate analog — See this article:

I am 50 years old & I’ve worn an analog hearing aid ever since I was 1 years old when my grandmother found out that I couldn’t hear. My mother had German Measles when she was in her late stage of pregnancy with me. I have severe hearing loss in my L ear & my R ear is profoundly deaf. I’ve tried 2 different brands of digital HAids & they both are horrible !!! The Phonax Nadia Q is the latest one. It’s so stupid to have to wait like 10 seconds & then the melody ding-ding-dings before I can actually hear my surroundings. I cried at my audiologist’s office trying this digital HAid & being told that analog HAids are no longer being made. She told me that I have to train my brain to accept the digital hearing. Not gonna work ! It’s bad enough that there’s feedback every time I chew or turn my head which makes me feel like a robot. I only wore the digital hearing aid for 1 day & went back to using my trusty ol’ analog HAid with a broken battery door held together by Scotch tape. I’m in the middle of researching for analog HAids when I found this blog. If there’s no analog HAid out there, then I’ll just be totally deaf than 1/2 deaf & the HAid companies have lost a prospective customer.

I have been wearing analog HA’s for 20 years before switching to digital HA’s and it was difficult. My audiologists was able to program my digital to mimic analog. When first programmed I notice the “music” program sounded similar to my analog. She said because that program had no noise reduction or compression. From this program she turned down the high frequencies(high frequencies on analog were slightly below what I needed due to feedback) and upped the low frequencies(comparable to analog setting) and presto it sounded almost like my analogs. Over time the HA were adjusted to my target(upped the high frequencies). It takes time to adjust to digital and after you adjust the mimic analog setting you can experiment with the other bells and whistles. For those of you really prefer analog HA a US company(Lillietronics) still sells programmable analog HA’s. I still have my old analogs that I use as a spare. I send them to this company once every two years to have them cleaned, etc. But I still prefer the digitals.

Hi karen im on the exact nightmare roller-coaster now as you described. My Analogues have finally stopped working and I have Analogues for 30 year’s. I rejected digitals of the NHS Cos I hated them. NHS refused to look after my Analogues for me. Ive been to a private Audiologist who although he says he has Analogues in stock will not let me try them. Being open minded as much as I could be I went home with a pair of Digital aids the sounds were hard jarring muffled loud and changed every second I felt disorientated and after a few hours I had sharp ear pain and worsened tinnitus. I felt panicked frustrated and desperately sad! I know when I go back to see the private Audiologist will want to tweak and try me on different ones and I’ll feel as miserable as sin! All l want is my beloved Analogues why won’t companies supply Analogues when there is obviously people like myself who physically and psychologically can’t adjust to wearing digitals, it cruel trying to force everyone into digitals when people suffer pain and become deeply depressed. Something needs to be done before Analogues go out altogether. Can anyone please give anymore information on possible ways to encourage companys to supply of Analogues on the Market again? Please Help!!

Becky – Maybe we can ask the Hearing Loss Association of America to help us out. I have no idea how to start a petition. On Facebook, maybe ? Write an article to the HLAA about Analog hearing aids ? Yeah, I hated the ding-dong-ding sound when I turned on one of the digital hearing aids I tried on – stupid & useless ! I had actually wondered if the digital hearing aid manufacturers had a trial run with hearing impaired people like us who have worn Analog hearing aid most or all of our lives. I’m assuming that the hearing aid manufacturers only wants to make digital hearing aids ‘cuz they make more $ that way. If the analogs are truly obsolete, I rather be deaf than suffer with a digital hearing aid. On the night of trying out my 3rd new digital hearing aid, my son saw something red glowing on the back of my ear & I was like, “huh ?” I took of the new digital hearing aid & saw a sliver of red light on. I figured it was to let the wearer know that the digital hearing aid is on. Duh ! All we have to do is turn on our hearing aid & hear sounds to know it’s on ! My audiologist told me later that the red light helps the parents of hearing impaired kids to know whether or not the digital hearing aid is on.

Hi Carla, it’s Becky that red light on the hearing aids you have tried sounds absurd!!!! As if your kids need to know that you’re hearing aids are turn on!! its common sense that if you’re wearing your aids they will be turned on!!! Maybe the volume might be down but if you’re like me if you’re hearing aids are off then your not wearing them!!! As you say I don’t think when these digitals came out they can’t of been trialled on Analogue users or we would of explained OUR NEEDS!!! I think this is the key, they haven’t used any Empathy or understanding when they designed these digitals not even considered the practical issues of being deaf. The manufacturers and Audiologists have been so caught up in their new technology that they lost the human aspects, everything has to be computerised now and thought there are many advantages with computers nowadays Audiologist and Manufacturers will simply not admit that the simple Analogues for many deaf people are far superior to Digitals. I’m seeing the Audiologist who is giving me the digital trial on Friday I haven’t been wearing the Phonaks 111up he give me I still have tinnitus. And I’m not going to try anymore, I’ll ask to trial Analogues if indeed he has any, and see what he says, I very much doubt he’ll give me that chance. This system needs a challenge, as you asked I don’t think Analogues are totally obsolete, I looked on EBay and apparently they had some new/used ones for all ranges of hearing loss for only about £20-£190. Bearing in mind they might of been sold ages ago but just not taken off the Internet also if you order these there is no return policy they may not work properly or need tweaking by An Audiologist to get them right. And how many Audiologists would help!!! It’s not right that manufacturers will not give deaf people the dignity and respect to have the option to buy Analogue or Digital whatever we prefer, we live in Democratic countrys we should have the right. As you say setting up a petition would be very difficult as we come from allover we can’t just get together and put our comments down on paper unless we catch planes trains and automobiles costing alot of money to boot!!! Thinking I might go to my local library and just ask if I can get a print of all the comments of this website. As I’m not big on technology I don’t have a laptop or printer, just my mobile phone but at least if I get this website printed the comments from all these people says it all maybe you could do that too then just show the print out to Audiologists, NHS, other deaf people just to help raise awareness and maybe somewhere there is help to increase Analogues back on to the market. I’ll keep in touch with you Carla and let you know if I have any more news. I’m so glad I’ve found this website and got contact with you its such a help isn’t it to know we can support each other with this. Hope you’re well Carla I’ll keep in touch. Let me know what you think about printing this website. Kind Regards from Becky Smith.

One More Time, there is NO NEED for any petition to get what you call an “analog(ue)” hearing aid: You need to find a competent hearing aid professional who will program a digital hearing aid to LINEAR, which is how your old analog hearing aids (most likely) behaved.

If your hearing aid professional will not do this for you, FIRE HER and select one who will.

I’ve already done!! The Audiologist spent ages he had put in in linear mode and said it was supposed to sound just like Analogues and I’m sorry to say it sounded nothing more than a bad quality piece of rubbish. Analogues were leaps and bounds ahead of Digitals in my opinion. I am doing whatever I can to bring awareness to Analogues and that is that!!! Thanks for your post though maybe someone else would like digitals in Linear mode, but not me!!! Regards Becky Smith

And if you’d looked on our mine and Carlas replies Dan you might of realised that we aren’t doing a petition it wouldn’t be an easy task. All these comments from everyone on this website says it all. Lots of people have digitals in Linear and DO NOT LIKE THE SOUNDS which is what I am going to try and explain to my Audiologist Private and on the NHS and everyone else who will listen because this is an issue I feel passionately about. I’ve been deaf all my life which is 30 year’s pretty long time. I’m not a spring chicken!! And I’ve had enough Analogues and Digitals to hear the difference I believe it’s important to fight your own corner regardless of other peoples opinion. Even if nothing comes of it a least I know I’ve tried, And Carla obviously has similar feelings to me. Thanks for your Comment Dan already tried your suggestion. Hope you continue to post your comments on this website though, you obviously know alot about our hearing aids. Regards Becky Smith

Hi again Dan it’s Becky Smith not a long message this time, just looked at the full name and number of the recent Digitals aids I’ve trialled they are left and right Phonaks Naida lll up. Hope thats helpful. Kind Regards from Becky Smith.

Hi Carla it’s Becky again. It sounds like you must be in the USA? With talking about dollars and the Hearing loss Association of America. I think that’s a good idea writing an article to them about our Analogues or maybe send them a print out of this website if you can. I’m in the UK as you’ve probably guessed with me mentioning the £ sign and talking about the NHS, I’ll try what I can do at my end I’m sure there will be a Hearing Loss Association in the UK that maybe I can send this website to once I’ve hopefully get it printed in the Library. I’m not on Facebook but maybe you could try? It might really take off, I was so surprised how many people can’t adjust to Digitals so I bet there is plenty more people struggling out there. Feel free to let me know anytime how things are going for you and hope we can make a difference, and raise awareness of Analogues. Always think it really helps to fight a cause that we care alot about. Analogue hearing aids help us to get on with our lives while digitals take a lot of the joy out of life at least for us anyway!!! Take care kind regards From Becky Smith.

OK, Becky: I hear you! Can you be more specific as to exactly * why* you prefer the sound of analog to digital adjusted to linear? What make and model hearing aid was it that was adjusted to linear — Phonak, Oticon, ReSound/Danalogic?

What I’ve found is that with some brands — notably Phonak, and also *some* ReSound (Verso & LiNX but NOT Sparx & Enzo) — when you program the aid for “linear” it still has remnants of WDRC, and has that “mushy” sound.

Also, another mistake is to enable noise reduction, as that too can unintentionally squash the speech envelope.

Hello Dan oh thanks for your reply it is kind of you to get back to me. I’m grateful to try and explain as I’m not an expert, but I can tell by your previous blogs that you do have lots of experience and knowledge of hearing aids. I have Klippelfiel Syndrome I have been deaf from birth, recently my hearing has deteriorated just a little with getting into my 30’s I presume, my left ear hearing loss is now severe and my right ear is moderate hearing loss. I’ve been on BE 54 on my left ear and BE 38 on the right ear since I was 7 years old both hearing aids were Analogues. I’ve always loved the clear consistent sounds that always sounded like my natural hearing which I can hear from my right side. Left ear has hardly any sound. No one even knew I was deaf and to be honest I never felt deaf either apart from noisy pubs or cafes but I still managed without much effort. In the last year I’ve only been wearing my left BE 54 and found it was clear enough on its own and brought my really bad ears hearing up without the need for the right BE 38 so I was as happy as Larry! That’s why I was so cut up when they both stopped working! I’d tried Starkey Maia 130 Digital Aids about 8 years ago when the digital change over happened at NHS Audiology. I was extremely disappointed with them they constantly keep bleeping with horrible metallic sounds and I couldn’t hear well at all I felt dull and dizzy so I went back to my trusty Analogues. The recent Digitals I’ve been given by a private Audiologist on a 7day trial are Phonaks lll u p the Audiologist adjusted them to the Analogue setting then adjusted them. In the quiet room with the Audiologist they sounded muffled and metallic then once I got out into the shopping centre it was just awful. Sounds were not pleasant, very Jarry harsh noises like closing doors, my own voice and people close to me were very muffled and stifled and i couldn’t hear well to have conversions, and all sounds had a computer generated sound like metallic and robotic. And not CONSISTENT I felt like my poor brain was suffering with horrible ever changing sounds. After wearing the Phonaks lll up on both ears for about 4 hours sound became distorted and I realised I was getting loud tinnitus in both ears and a sharp stabbing pain in both ears too!! And I never had earache wearing Analogues. I became panicky and took them out so that was the end of the trial. Ijust couldn’t cope. I suffer with pain in my Neck due to my Klippelfiel Syndrome and the thought of wearing hearing aids that gives me tinnitus and earache is too much to bear. I was still suffering with tinnitus 5 days later Another Audiologist had managed to mend my old BE 54 and tried it last night and it works better than it did before!!! It’s wonderful! Lovley clear audible natural sounds not to loud or too quiet and without that awful metallic sound which inside my head felt so uncomfortable, with the digitals and no harsh and Jarring sounds that I got with the digitals which made my head wince!!!! Also after wearing my old BE 54 last night my tinnitus levels has dropped again and I feel like I’ve got my life long friend back my BE 54. I know these Analogues are museum pieces now but I know how well they suit me and although I know this newly mended old NHS BE 54 probably won’t last very long I really don’t want to spend my money on digital aids that I can’t wear and give me tinnitus or earache. I almost sure if someone give me different Analogues I’d still prefer to use them because of the consistent Kind sounds. Even atmosphere sounds lovely in silence wearing Analogues. Which ampifys feelings and perceptions of things around me which are definitely dulled down with my deafness. With both sets of Digitals I’ve tried there was no sense of atmosphere at all in silence or entering a noisy room so for me it created a block at creating Feeling it felt like a psychological and emotional block. So the digitals if anything distorted my senses awfully and gave me physical discomfort with the tinnitus and sharp ear pain. I’m so sorry for this long reply. Hope it doesn’t bore you. Just trying to give you an insight into why Analogues suited me so well. Thanks for your interest Dan any help or advice you could give me would be grateful appreciated. Kind Regards From Becky Smith.

Hello Dan, I’m becoming more and more interested in the workings of hearing aids in this past week due to your posts here on the Limpingchicken I’ve just read your post on the hearing blog – First Person Report – Not everyone can adjust to Digitals after a lifetime of Analogue.
I don’t know if the deafness relating to my Klippelfiel Syndrome means I have Cochlear dead zones my left ear is severely deaf, my right ear is moderate.
But you mentioned that if that is the case the Wide Dynamic Range Compression which are digital sounds but when processed to linear give out more of an Analogue sound because WDRC squashes the Speech envelope.
I would be very interested to learn in simple terms exactly
What is the Speech Envelope?
And why does WDRC squash it?
Why do people with Cochlear dead zones need the Speech envelope in order to hear sounds clearly?
I have no knowledge at all of how hearing aids work but I’d love to learn these basics.
Hope you don’t mind me asking?
Kind Regards
From Becky Smith in the UK

Good afternoon Dan, well good morning to you actually, I keep forgetting the USA is 4hours behind me in the UK.
I’ve found you on the website, Dan Schartz the hearing blog. I’m not on Facebook but I think I can read all the blogs you have made on there. So thank you very much for that info.
I’ll be very interested to find out what the Speech envelope is ,and WDRC, Linear mode and other aspects of hearing aids. I’ve started to find everything quite fascinating!
Thanks so much for your knowledge and information Dan. Kind Regards from Becky Smith here in the UK.

Dan – Are you hearing impaired ? If you’re not, then you have NO idea of what life is like for hearing impaired people & how we hear better with Analog hearing aids. The audiologists & hearing aid manufacturers are mostly concerned with making money. I cried when I tried on the 2nd digital hearing aid which was just horrible ! We are people with feelings & if we are unable to hear things comfortably, then we get depressed. When that’s the case, then less money will be spent on digital hearing aids, because us hearing impaired consumers are unhappy with digital hearing aids. There’s no need to make every single thing computerized.

Becky – Thanx so much for all you said back up there yesterday ! 😀 ( big smiley grin ). I still would like to do a petition. I can’t work on it right now ‘cuz I have too much stuff to do on my end – help my son with his Eagle Scout project, my Sunday School program, Pumpkin Carving Party, my son’s college search, driving people to & from work & school, and housework. That’s a great idea to print all these comments on the blog to use it as evidence. I’ll try to write to you tomorrow. 🙂

Becky and Carla: Yes, I am severely deaf; and I have been wearing hearing aids over 30 years, and 24/7/365 for 25 years now for both tinnitus suppression as well as environmental awareness overnight. I have also built and repaired hearing aids and earmolds for my patients.

As I mentioned, the various manufacturers address your auditory problems differently, as both of your auditory cortex’ “crave” the speech envelope in order to understand speech clearly:

• Starkey, up through the S series used very slow attack and release times;
• Oticon’s Speech Guard is also a very slow AGC attack & release; and I suspect their new Speech Guard E actually uses a Hilbert transform — When I was up there in June for training I wore a pair of Agil2 Pro aids, and it definitely had the “pop” of the speech envelope when I toggled the processing off & on;
• Phonak tries to diddle the gain settings — It doesn’t really work;
• ReSound actually “pins” the gain in linear mode in the Sparx (a/k/a Danalogic 6090 for NHS); and at AudiologyNow! in March I spoke to the Enzo project manager, and in fact they read my articles and incorporated a switch in the Aventa software to switch to full linear mode.

Good morning Dan, it’s Becky Smith here from the UK. I knew you understood alot about Audiology and hearing aids.so I’d kind of guessed you were an Audiologist. But I’m sorry to hear that you are deaf too, you already understand what problems deaf people have as you have first hand experience as we have, a life time of being deaf. I can tell you want to help by the many blogs you have done on this website…you must meet patients with similar frustrations and problems as me, Carla and others have experienced with the change over from Analogues to Digital… As I’ve said before though my 15 year old Siemens BE 54 and BE 38 are perfect as they were, for me and probably many others, why spend many hours with patients fiddling and fine tuning trying to make digitals sound like Analogues. When the Old Fashioned true Analogues only needed a tweak with the little screwdriver and they were fine and sorted. You would have happy patients in minutes those of us who love Analogues and are suited to them. Less hours of frustration for both the patients and the Audiologists. And I know I would pay far more money for an old style Analogue…..And another interesting point, my uncle has age related deafness he is in he’s 80s. Never worn an Analogue in his life, he paid alot of money for his digitals and he can’t stand them, but he was told by the Audiologist that they were the best things going…. My mum in her 70s same thing age related deafness never been on Analogues she has one digital given to her from the NHS a Oticon Spirit Synergy and she couldn’t tolerate it, she said she felt like her head was about to explode…. Even a lady who worked in our town hall told me that she and her daughter is deaf both spent money on digitals based on the selling techniques of there Audiologist and they don’t like their Digitals they had never even heard of Analogues!!! Surely the dissatisfied amount of people who miss there old true Analogues on this website and some people who have never even been on Analogues who still can’t tolerate Digitals because of the quality of sounds aren’t satisfactory to them. For the benefit of patients, Manufacturers and Audiologists alike wouldn’t we all be happier if True old Fashioned Analogues that can be adjusted with a screwdriver were made just as easily available as the digitals? Then all deaf people would have the CHOICE!!! That’s really all I’m asking. Please feel free to let me know what you think Dan. I would be very interested in your thoughts and views. Kind Regards from Becky Smith.

Hi Dan. It’s Becky just wanted to say thanks for the information regarding the Danalogic 6090 aids available on the NHS in the UK next March. I will go back to my local NHS Audiology then and I’ll give them a try as you say they are the closest to Analogues in new digitals. As of now I’m going back to see my Private Audiologist tomorrow who has trialled me on the Phonaks and I’m just going to ask him if I can trial Analogues he did say he has some in stock.. The other Audiologist who lives quite away from me has managed to mend my 2nd Left BE 54 for only £120. So I’ll have 2 working BE 54’s. He might be able to revive my 1 and only BE 38 aswell. Then I’ll have my beloved Analogues for a while. I get a 6month’s guarantee with them so I don’t know for sure how long they will work for. But I’m still on the lookout for more Analogues I can buy as spares. Still going to print off all these comments though and show them to different Audiologists it won’t do any harm to show that Analogues haven’t been left behind!!! Thanks for your informative input. Kind Regards from Becky Smith.

Hi Carla it’s Becky. Wow you sound like your very busy and enjoying yourself the pumpkin carving party sounds great. I know what you mean about petitions, I started one up to save my local bus service which was going to be axed. Didnt think Id get many signatures but ended up with over 750. And we still have a morning service now. Although I enjoyed doing the petition it was time consuming and rather tireing. I’m fairly busy myself, I’m a full time carer looking after my Mum so busy sorting her hospital appointments, shopping etc..including trying to get my ears right to make life easier. I don’t have a lot of money so that’s why I’m determined not to buy Digital hearing aids that don’t work for me. Ive got my appointment this afternoon to hand the Phonaks Digitals back after a few hours trial and I’m dreading it!! I’m sure my Audiologist will be miffed cos I didn’t persevere, but I just couldn’t. I’m going to ask him what he thinks about the 1970’s and 1980’s Analogue hearing aids making a come back!! And how many people would be in favour. Be interested to know what he thinks. I will also try and get alot of these comments printed. After all if no one says anything the Audiologists and Manufacturers will never know! I really enjoy writing on this website 2 weeks ago I felt so sad depressed and alone but now I know I’m not on my own, that lots of people feel the same. Carla I’d love to stay in touch with you if you’d like to stay in contact with me you can either keep on sending your posts here on the Limpingchicken, or you can email me at samibexy@gmail.com Enjoy your day Carla. Kind Regards. From Becky.

g’Morning, Becky 🙂 Thanx so much for your eMaiL address ! 😀 It’ll be a lot easier to keep in touch this way, so I’ll write an eMaiL to you instead of here. Yeah, I totally agree that we should print these Limping Chicken comments & give ’em to our Audiologists.

After all this back and forth with it appears total disatisfaction with digital HA for us long time analog HA users you would think analog aids would be made available again by the makers of these products.

Surely at the audi level they must be frustrated with trying to help us. I see a business opportunity for someone to enter the market with analog aids.

Hi David, I agree with everything you say, about a huge market for Analogues being created so many people like us will not buy digitals because Analogues were perfect for us. After a few Audiologists telling me that Analogues are ancient history and that I’d never find any. I have finally found an Audiologist who has managed to find me 1Analogue aid. It’s not as good as my old BE 54 Analogue as it’s got a deeper lower sound but I’m hoping he will tune it to my liking, I’m wearing it on trial. It will cost me about £275.
The Audiologist told me there is a market for Analogue hearing aids in China. And they can be bought quite cheaply. But the Audiologist said they are mostly sold in bulk. So if Audiologist orders 1 they end up with 300 in their stock rooms. But I’m sure Audiologists would have happy satisfied patientsif they were just as keen to sell Analogues as well as digitals. I really had to do my research to find someone to open the door on Analogues for me. I felt like no one would help at all. Digitals are so widely available just because they are the latest technology.
Thanks for your interesting comments David. From Becky Smith.

Yes ! 😀 Somebody please bring back the analog hearing aids ! I’m sick of hearing sounds & conversations as if people were talking inside a plastic bucket. I’m sick of going back & forth to my audiologist to tweak the settings on my digital hearing aid to get the sounds just right.

Hello all, yes the digital hearing aids are NOT for everyone who have been wearing analogue hearing aids for most of their life. I, too have been wearing analogs since i was about 3yrs old,now I am 46.
I have spent the last five years trying those digitals, still does not sounds right and takes forever to get it right, going back and forth to the audiologist. It’s all to much time and effort.
One thing I do notice, at the audiology dept. when they tune the digitals on the computer, the audiologist change the numbers in the block type graph which have loads of numbers in it.
I think that’s the problem, it’s too complex to tune the aids.
The software design needs changing. Have a circular dial pattern graphs or a graphic equaliser , 4 of them, one for high tone one for low tone, one for power gain and AGC on the screen instead. This would be a lot easier to work on.
Also this would give a better picture for audiologist as well as the patients too.
And get rid of unnecessary programs that comes with the aids, have something simple on/off switch,volume control dial instead.
But one thing I would like it’s to have, a bluetooth in it as I love listening to music from the mobile phone!
I sincerely hope in the future there’s a solution for all of us.

Finally I have found people who understand….I am profoundly deaf and have been wearing analogue hearing aids since I was five years old – I will be 48 tomorrow. My analogue hearing airs are getting on in age and I thought it best to upgrade – what a nightmare it has been. I tried the Oticon Chili and they were horrible – couldn’t hear on the phone and everything sounded distorted and totally overwhelming. Totally frustrating. I decided to persevere and try the Phonak Nadia – still the same – voices distorted and cannot hear clearly on the phone. My audiologist has been trying to adjust them so that I can at least hear on the phone at work. I have had to ask people to hang on whilst I change back to my analogues so I can hear them – very embarrassing indeed. Now I have the option of wearing a contraption around my neck so that the phone goes directly into the hearing aid – I will give it a try but I am not all that hopeful. To be honest I don’t want to have all the extra gadgets when I can hear reasonably well on the phone with my analogues…why change something that works!

That’s horrible, Denyelle ! 🙁 I’ve been thru a similar situation, but not the additional gadget part to hear on the phone. I’m 51 & I’ve worn analog hearing aids all my life. I’ve tried 3 digital hearing aids & the 3rd one is pretty good, but not as great as my analog hearing aid that I keep safe in a “treasure box”. I have severe hearing loss in my left ear & my right ear is profoundly deaf (no hearing aid used in that ear.) My 3rd digital hearing aid is the OTICON SUMO DM & after many adjustments, I’m semi-happy with it. I really need to make a point to write an article about analog hearing aids being better than digital. My audiologist told me that a good portion of the cost of digital hearing aids goes toward programming them on the computer to match the hearing impaired’s hearing level, decibels or whatever you call it. This makes me sick !

Sounds better than the previous digitals that I’ve heard of. And being able to adjust your own digital aids sounds so much better than trusting Audiologists to fine tune when they undoubtedly get it wrong each time.
But If the latest technology in digitals with 90 odd channels nearly equal Analogues then WHY ON EARTH CAN THEY NOT BRING BACK ANALOGUES IF THEY HAVE A WIDER CHANNEL RANGE!!! Seems like everyone is willing to go back to Analogues. Digital hearing aids don’t cut the mustard!!!

This could be due to the RF radiation from the device. It seems to be happening to many people after long term exposure to low levels of radio frequency. I have measured a Phonak and found the radiation very high.

Digital radiation has been shown to be much more biologically damaging than analogue. http://ehtrust.org/

My Audiologist managed to find me an Analogue hearing aid for my left ear which I like
It cost just £295 compared to the awful experience digital aids which like your son I can’t stand digitals either.
The Analogue Aid he ordered for me was from CHINA and it’s a FEIE 209 model of Analogue hearing aid for moderate /severe deafness.
He said FEIE in CHINA are continuing to make Analogue aids in the future.
My Audiologist is now n the process of finding me another Analogue hearing aid for my right ear
If you want to get in touch with my Audiologist he Is in England.
If you’d like more information ji reply to let me know.

Who can we get contact? To get them to bring back analog hearing aids back on the NHS?

Any news? I really pray they will bring back analog in the future,live in hope,,

Can’t they manufacture both digital and analog hearing aids? It is so depressing with digital hearings, I am back using my old analog BE38 hearing aid, it is heaven I can able to hear properly, I am profoundly deaf in left and partially deaf in my right.

Hi I loved my BE 38 Analogue hearing aid I got it repaired eventually and its like gold dust to me. I love it so much unfortunately my old BE 54 isn’t mended and I’m having trouble finding anyone who will mend it for me.
Ive been told I won’t be able to get BE 38 and BE 54 but they are the best ones for me.
My Audiologist has found me a FEIE 209 Analogue Aid for my left ear but it’s not as good a sound quality as the BE’s but I’ve been told they are museum pieces now
I haven’t found an Analogue hearing aid for my right ear yet.. It’s awful.
Just like you I want to be able to just hear normally and the only way I can is from the BE type of old Analogues the sounds are so clear fine and good quality from those..
I just keep bashing my head against a brick wall trying to explain to my Audiologists even though my latest one Is very good he dosnt understand..
I would be so happy to help in anyway to bring Analogues back into the NHS..
But I don’t know how. My local NHS won’t hear a good word about Analogues.. I wouldn’t know where to start.
Have you any suggestions Shy?
I love to hear them…